The Giants, who led for only a half-inning the entire night, won the pennant on Travis Ishikawa's three-run, walk off homer, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-3, and earning a berth in the World Series against the Kansas City Royals.

It was the Giants' first walk off homer to send them into the World Series since Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World,' in 1951 over the Brooklyn Dodgers.

The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!

"The last thing I remember was being thrown down with my jersey ripped off,'' Ishikawa says. "I was just so out of breath from yelling and screaming, I had to have guys help me stand up to finish celebrating.''

Hey, the sellout crowd of 43,217 at AT&T Park can certainly feel Ishikawa's pain, screaming themselves hoarse all day long, and into the night.

They'll have a few days to soothe their throats with the World Series beginning Tuesday night in Kansas City, with the Royals awaiting their arrival.

It will be the first time in baseball history that the two entrants, both wild-card entrants, will meet in the World Series with less than 90 regular-season victories.

The way the Giants see it, they just use the six months to get their pass to the postseason.

The only month they care about is October.

They have now won 15 of their last 17 postseason games, and nine series in a row in the most glorious run in Giants' history.

"This is the golden age of Giants baseball,'' Giants president Larry Baer says, "and we're talking about all of the way back to New York. The clubhouse culture that's been created here is unbelievable.''

Where else you going to have a team so close-knit that when Ishikawa hits his walk off against Cardinals pitcher Michael Wacha with one out in the ninth, he's tackled on the field by teammate Jake Peavy?

Uh, before he even reaches third base?

"I didn't know who it was,'' Ishikawa says. "I just knew it was somebody. I didn't know what the rules were.

"I know the base coaches are not allowed to touch runners when they are trying to score, so I didn't know if touching him was going to cost me the home run or something.

"I was just trying to push him out of the way.''

Peavy, who was on the Boston Red Sox's World Series championship team a year ago, and re-energized the Giants with his arrival July 26, still wasn't sure an hour later if he cost his teammate a home run.

"I hope I wasn't being disrespectful,'' Peavy said, laughing. "I thought he hit a double off the wall. I thought the game was over.

"I didn't know he still had to score.''

Giants ace Madison Bumgarner, voted the MVP of the Series after going 1-0 with a 1.72 ERA in his two starts, limiting the Cardinals to three runs in eight innings Thursday, said: "I think a lot of us forget that we had to let him touch home plate. We wanted to run and tackle him around second base.''

The Giants can worry about their baseball etiquette later. All they cared about now was perfecting their dances steps while swaying to Cali Swag District's "Teach me how to Dougie,'' in the middle of the clubhouse

Pence, their inspirational leader, rounded everyone together during the song, and called out individual names, making sure the proper guys were honored.

There was no bigger ovation than the one for veteran pitcher Tim Hudson.

He spent 16 years in the major leagues and never once had gotten out of the first round of the playoffs.

Now, he'll be in the World Series, likely the starting pitcher in Game 3.

Hudson tried to talk when Pence called out his name, but he teared up, his body trembling with emotion, and all he could say is: "World Series!''

"I didn't even know what to say,'' Hudson said. "You always go to spring training hoping for something like this, but it never happened. I don't have that many years left. You wondered if it would ever happen.

"And now that it has, well, I just want to drink some beer.''

Hudson took a swig of his favorite beer, third baseman Pablo Sandoval drank champagne from the bottle, and Pence walked around the room distributing cigars.

The Giants should be used to these celebrations by now, but this one, they say, feels different.

"The others were great,'' Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford says, "but this one was more emotional. It just felt different. Maybe it's just that it was so hard to even get here.''

The Giants' road to greatness was filled with potholes, going through a two-month stretch when they were 15 games above .500, but managed to qualify as the second wild-card team.

They had to go on the road to play Pittsburgh in a winner-take-all game.

They had to open the Division Series against the powerful Washington Nationals.

They had to start on the road against the Cardinals, who were playing in their fourth consecutive NLCS.

And they won. And won. And won.

"If we didn't envision this, if we didn't see it,'' Pence, "how we ever going to come out and perform like we do. You measure a man not by his accomplishments, but what it takes to discourage them.

"So when we were in the tough times, you still got to see the greatness that could be, and still believe.''

And guess what?

The Giants, entering the World Series with a chip on their shoulder, now believe they will win the World Series.

"It doesn't get any better,'' says Giants manager Bruce Bochy, who has won nine consecutive postseason series as the Giants' manager. "What a group. No one has any will stronger than us.''

Sure, they catch their share of breaks. They have scored 12 runs in their last seven postseason games without the benefit of a hit. They went 242 plate-appearances without a homer, and then hit three in one evening. Teams self-destruct against them in pressure moments.

Yet, they're sick and tired of being called lucky.

Maybe it's time we all call them pretty darn good.

"A lot of media have been saying how lucky we are,'' Pence says. "Look how many two-out RBIs we get. Look at how runners we get on base with good at-bats.

"So you have somewhat of a chip on your shoulder when everybody says you're lucky.

"We weren't given this.

"We earned it.

"The only truth is who's still playing.''

Maybe it doesn't hurt to dream, either.

It was Flannery who actually dreamt Wednesday night that Michael Morse would hit a two-run homer in Thursday's game. He was close. It was a solo shot in the eighth inning, Morse's first since Aug. 15, and it tied the game that set up Ishikawa's heroics.

"Hey, did you have a dream?'' Flannery yelled to Morse in the hallway.

Said Morse: "You did. You did it.''

Flannery, teammates with Bochy in San Diego, who later coached with in San Diego before joining him with the Giants, wonders if he's living a dream himself.

"I don't know how many times it will happen again,'' Flannery says. "It's just a great bunch of guys that have come together and there's something magical that happens in this clubhouse.

"This one, I think, was the most special of them all.''

Now, if he can only find his helmet.

And, yes, please call if you find his scouting reports.

When Ishikawa homered, he came around third base and spiked his helmet to the ground, and Flannery flung his helmet so high in the air, he still doesn't know where it landed.

He ran onto the celebratory pile with everyone else, and by the time he reached the clubhouse, he forgot that he left his reports on the bench.

Flannery talked for 20 minutes, and then excused himself, and yelled out to the batboy.

"Hey, any word on my helmet?'' he said. "We still got some games left.''

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NLCS Game 5, Cardinals vs. Giants: Travis Ishikawa, who pondered retirement just months ago, hammered a Michael Wacha fastball for a three-run, walk-off home run that sent then to their third World Series in five years. Ed Szczepanski, USA TODAY Sports

ALCS Game 4 - Orioles at Royals: Royals closer Greg Holland, left, celebrated with catcher Salvador Perez after they swept the Orioles to advance to the World Series. It's the Royals first trip in 29 years. Denny Medley, USA TODAY Sports

NLCS Game 2, Giants at Cardinals - Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina hit a hard grounder to second and left the game. He appeared to have hurt his torso on the swing. The Cardinals reported he sustained a strained left oblique, the kind of injury that takes weeks to recover. Jasen Vinlove, USA TODAY Sports

NLCS Game 1, Giants at Cardinals - Madison Bumgarner shut down the Cardinals and didn't give up an earned run for 7 2/3 innings. He now owns the record for most consecutive postseason shutout innings pitched on the road with 26 2/3. Dilip Vishwanat via USA TODAY Sports

ALCS Game 1, Royals at Orioles - Royals 3B Mike Moustakas, who hit 15 home runs during the regular season, hit his third homer of the postseason, this one to give the Royals a 8-5 lead in the 10th inning. Rob Carr, Getty Images

ALCS Game 1, Royals at Orioles - After Baltimore closer Zach Britton walked the bases loaded in the top of the ninth, Darren O'Day came in and got two critical outs to keep the game tied 5-5. Patrick Smith, Getty Images

NLDS Game 4, Giants vs. Nationals - After throwing a wild pitch that allowed the go-ahead run to score, Nationals reliever Aaron Barrett threw another wild pitch while attempting to intentionally walk Pablo Sandoval. The ball ricocheted off the backstop and catcher Wilson Ramos threw to Barrett, tagging out Buster Posey trying to score from third. The play was challenged but the ruling was confirmed and the Giants' lead remained 3-2. Kelley L Cox, USA TODAY Sports

NLDS Game 4, Cardinals vs. Dodgers - Just like that, Clayton Kershaw's dazzling performance went up in smoke, and he stood on the mound, bent over with his hands on his knees, staring in disbelief. Kershaw will head home for the winter, having a 7.82 career ERA in the Division Series, and a 5.12 ERA overall in postseason. Jeff Curry, USA TODAY Sports

NLDS Game 3, Nationals vs. Giants - Nationals' Ian Desmond, right, slid safely into third base past Pablo Sandoval, left, before scoring on the play when Madison Bumgarner made a throwing error. The Nationals took a 2-0 lead in the play in the seventh inning. Jeff Chiu, AP

ALDS Game 3, Orioles vs. Tigers - Nelson Cruz hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning to give the Orioles the lead and game -winning runs. It was his second home run of the series. Rick Osentoski, USA TODAY Sports

NLDS Game 2, Dodgers vs. Cardinals - After the Cardinals tied the game at two in the top of the eighth, Matt Kemp hit a go-ahead solo home run in the bottom of the inning off Pat Neshek. Jayne Kamin-Oncea, USA TODAY Sports

ALDS Game 2, Angels vs. Royals - First baseman Eric Hosmer hit a two-run home run in the 11th inning off Kevin Jepsen, giving the Royals a 3-1 lead. Kansas City would add another run and win 4-1, to take a 2-0 lead in the series. Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports

ALDS Game 2, Orioles vs. Tigers - Pinch-hitter Delmon Young's bases clearing double brought the O's back from a three-run deficit to complete a sweep of the first two games at home against the Tigers. Tommy Gilligan, USA TODAY Sports